CONCORD, NH — A homeless felon with a nearly 15-year criminal history was arrested in Concord late last month after a multi-month investigation into drugs he was accused of hiding during a traffic stop.
Around 4:45 p.m. on Sept. 25, 2023, an officer saw a Honda Civic, in the area of Commercial Street and Interstate 393, with an expired inspection sticker and a windshield with multiple cracks. The officer began the process of pulling over the car and said, after turning on the cruiser lights, a person in the front passenger seat began moving around. The officer suspected the person might be concealing items, an affidavit stated.
The vehicle stopped near the Exit 14 I-93 onramp and the officer spoke to the driver, Malena Dasilva, 41, of Paxton, Massachusetts, who had an active warrant for controlled drug premise out of Hooksett. The passenger, a man in his mid-20s, was accused of giving police a fake name that matched the owner of the vehicle.
Find out what's happening in Concordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Other officers arrived to assist.
Dasilva was questioned about the movements of the front passenger, the report said. She said the passenger was hiding a sex toy, she was embarrassed about it, and denied knowing if there were drugs in the vehicle, according to an affidavit.
Find out what's happening in Concordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Another officer immediately recognized the passenger to be Christopher Cooper, 26, a homeless felon in the area, the report stated, and he, too, had an active warrant. His warrant was on a theft charge.
The reporting officer went back to Dasilva to confirm the passenger was Cooper and she “stared at me blankly and did not answer my question,” the officer wrote. The officer accused her of speaking “very quickly” and cutting them off, so their questions were not getting answered.
Dispatch confirmed the premises warrant and she was arrested. Cooper was also arrested on his active warrant.
Click Here: cheap nrl jersey
A vehicle inspection led to the discovery of tinfoil on the floor of the front passenger seat as well as a butane torch underneath the radio of the vehicle, the report said. There was also a pouch under the driver’s seat, the officer wrote, so the car was towed.
Dasilva was read her rights and questioned at police headquarters. She was accused of saying Cooper might have had a small amount of meth in his backpack. Dasilva said there should not be any other drugs in the vehicle, according to the officer. She was also asked about a locked safe inside the vehicle the officer also saw and she guessed there might be “marijuana paraphernalia” inside because the person who used to own it smoked weed, the affidavit said.
Cooper was read his rights and asked if he was willing to speak.
“I don’t know what to say,” he was accused of replying.
A search warrant was requested and approved, and police found a jar with unknown powder, a digital scale, dozens of nortriptyline pills in two different-sized doses, a plastic baggie with crystal shards of Delta 9 THCA, clonazepam, and other items.
An arrest warrant for Cooper was issued on June 4. Cooper was arrested at 1:20 p.m. on Aug. 29 on felony possession of a controlled drug and deal-possess prescription drug charges.
According to superior court records, Cooper’s criminal history dates back close to 15 years. He is a felon due to a 2010 theft conviction out of Concord, for which he received a 12-month sentence, suspended for two years, two years of probation, and a $1,350 fine.
In June 2019, he was accused of acts prohibited and controlled premises charges out of Hooksett. In May 2020, Cooper was accused of acts prohibited and deal-possess prescription drugs in Bow and acts prohibited in Concord. In January 2022, he pleaded guilty to acts prohibited and the script charges and received suspended sentences and fines with 24 days of time served credit.
However, a few months later, Cooper was charged with felony theft and violation of probation in Concord and receiving stolen property five months after that. In July 2022, he was given a six-month sentence, with 106 days of time served credit, and in December 2022, he received a two- to five-year sentence, all suspended for seven years.
Back in April 2023, Cooper was accused of receiving stolen property and credit card fraud in Manchester. Six months later, he pleaded guilty to the credit card fraud charge and the felony was dropped. Cooper was given a nine-month sentence, suspended for two years, and required to pay $358 in restitution.
Cooper is due back in Hillsborough County Superior Court North for a plea and sentencing hearing on a felony drug charge out of Manchester from May next month. He is also facing a status conference for motion to impose the credit card fraud suspended sentence.
Concord police did not have a booking photo for Cooper on file for publication.
Do you have a news tip? Please email it to tony.schinella@patch.com. View videos on Tony Schinella’s YouTube.com channel or Rumble.com channel. Follow the NH politics Twitter account @NHPatchPolitics for all our campaign coverage.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.